Data from: Social and emotional contexts predict the development of gaze following in early infancy

<p>The development of gaze following begins in early infancy and its developmental foundation has been under heavy debate. Using a longitudinal design (<i>N</i> = 118), we demonstrate that attachment quality predicts individual differences in the onset of gaze following, at 6 months of age, and that maternal postpartum depression predicts later gaze following, at 10 months. In addition, we report longitudinal stability in gaze following from 6 to 10 months. A full path model (using attachment, maternal depression, and gaze following at 6) accounted for 21 % of variance in gaze following at 10 months. These results suggest an <i>experience-dependent</i> development of gaze following, driven by the infant's own motivation to interact and engage with others (the <i>social-first</i> perspective).</p>